Last year was busiest for new home-building in Overland Park since 2004

3 Friday, June 3

Last year was busiest for new home-building in Overland Park since 2004

info2022-06-03T08:10:21-05:00June 3rd, 2022|

Overland Park saw a resurgence of single-family home building last year, with permits for single-family homes greatly outnumbering multi-family homes for the first time since 2017, according to data presented to a council committee Wednesday by the planning staff. The details: Community Development Committee members heard a generally upbeat annual report that described 2021 as a year of recovery from the pandemic challenges of 2020. Last year was a digression from an ongoing trend toward multi-family building that has been booming for at least the past five years. The year 2018, in particular, stood out as a huge year for apartment [...]

3 Friday, June 3

Rural Water District approved for ARPA funding

info2022-06-03T09:28:27-05:00June 3rd, 2022|

With significant funding already in place for projects, Rural Water District No. 4 was recently approved for $350,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding by the Neosho County Commission for water main upgrades. Covering roughly a third of the county, RWD No. 4 also expands into Labette County. Representing the district at the May 10 and May 19 county commission meetings, Troy Smith and Ron Giefer made their case to commissioners. Commissioners were informed that much of the pipe was outdated, having been placed there in the 1960s and ‘70s. Source: The Chanute Tribune

3 Friday, June 3

Opportunity mindset keeps Wichita’s small businesses, attractions going

info2022-06-03T09:28:46-05:00June 3rd, 2022|

Participants in a panel discussion during the Wichita Business Journal's ICT Summit agreed: Wichita's unique small businesses and attractions are critical to building up the quality of life necessary to attract and retain talent. "Attracting and retaining, especially young talent, is really about vibrancy of the city, right? It's the nightlife and the arts and culture, what makes the city really pop," said, a partner in The Wave and The Cotillion, two local music venues. "I think we’re doing a good job, but I think we’ve got work to do." Source: Wichita Business Journal

2 Thursday, June 2

Municipal Bond Trends for June 2, 2022

info2022-06-03T05:48:38-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

2 Thursday, June 2

Survey seeks input about Lawrence residents’ transportation priorities, experiences for new transportation plan

info2022-06-02T08:43:40-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

Local planners are looking for input from residents as they work to update the area’s long-range transportation plan, which will address all modes of transportation in the Lawrence area. Transportation 2050 will be “a blueprint for the future transportation system” of Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City, Lecompton and unincorporated areas of Douglas County, according to the project website. The plan will set regional goals and improvement recommendations to meet the region’s future transportation needs through 2050 for automobile, public transit, bicycle, pedestrian and other forms of transportation. Financial resources to implement the plan will also be identified. Source: LJWorld

2 Thursday, June 2

Douglas County leaders authorize 3-year extension for industrial development incentive program

info2022-06-02T08:43:31-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

Douglas County leaders authorized extending an industrial development incentive program for another three years at Wednesday’s County Commission meeting. With Commissioner Shannon Reid absent, fellow commissioners Shannon Portillo and Patrick Kelly voted to extend the Catalyst Incentive Program until April 1, 2025. The program was first adopted by the City of Lawrence in April 2017 and has since provided an assistance package offering expedited approval for new projects meeting certain criteria at Lawrence VenturePark and East Hills Business Park. Later, the program extended eligibility to any new building project of 25,000 square feet or larger on industrially zoned property within city [...]

2 Thursday, June 2

Municipal Bond Trends for June 1, 2022

info2022-06-02T08:31:35-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

2 Thursday, June 2

Investors revisit muni bonds amid higher yields and strong credit

info2022-06-02T08:07:42-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

It's been a tough year for municipal bonds, with investors cashing out amid rising interest rates. However, higher yields and strong credit may be sparking a shift, experts say. While investors piled a record-breaking $96.8 billion of net money into U.S. muni mutual and exchange-traded funds in 2021, weekly inflows have been negative for most of 2022, according to Refinitiv Lipper data. Last week's numbers were still negative, but outflows slowed significantly, signaling more interest, according to Tom Kozlik, head of municipal research and analytics at HilltopSecurities. Source: CNBC - Bonds

2 Thursday, June 2

The Fed’s Mary Daly says rate hikes should continue until inflation is tamed

info2022-06-02T08:26:54-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said Wednesday she backs raising interest rates aggressively until inflation comes down to a reasonable level. Those moves likely would entail multiple 50 basis point hikes at coming meetings, then a possible rest to see how the central bank policy tightening is combining with other factors to impact the massive surge in consumer prices. "We need to that expeditiously, and I see a couple of 50 basis point hikes immediately in the next coupe of meetings to get there," she told CNBC's Steve Liesman during an interview on "TechCheck." "Then we need to look [...]

2 Thursday, June 2

WSU to help Kansas communities prep, recover from natural disasters

info2022-06-02T08:04:53-05:00June 2nd, 2022|

An interdisciplinary team from Wichita State University will participate in a $24 million state initiative to help rural and urban communities prepare for and recover from natural disasters. Wichita State is one of 17 Kansas universities and colleges participating in the Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructures driven by Social Equity (ARISE) project, funded by the National Science Foundation and the state of Kansas. The Wichita State team will lead power-system work and capital-asset management to address resilience and infrastructure responses to disaster and extreme weather events. Source: Derby Informer | Area